post-apocalypse
After the end
Post-apocalypse describes the time period or setting after a catastrophic event has destroyed civilization—nuclear war, pandemic, asteroid impact, or similar disaster.
The term appears most often in fiction: a post-apocalypse thriller, post-apocalypse survivors scavenging for food.
As a noun, a post-apocalypse is such a setting or story: The film is set in a grim post-apocalypse.
The related adjective post-apocalyptic is more common in formal contexts.
Uninhabitable barren region
- barrenUnable to produce
- bleakDreary and without cheer
- abandonedLeft behind completely
- desertedLeft behind, uninhabited
empty · ghostly · vacant · lifeless · inhospitable · ruins · silence · solitude
Seeker of refuse
- refugeePerson fleeing danger abroad
- nomadHomeless wanderer by choice
- raiderOne who attacks suddenly
- survivorOne still alive after
mutant · outcast · wanderer · tribesman · settler · prepper · survivalist · loner
Severe widespread destruction
- annihilationUtter, complete destruction
- obliterationTotal destruction or erasure
- decimationNear-total destruction
- collapseSudden structural failure
fallout · extinction · rubble · debris · crumbling · decay · disintegration · aftermath
Results following an event
- futureTime still to come
- epochDistinct historical period
- eraDistinct historical period
- generationAge-defined peer group
collapse · fall · downfall · reckoning · age · post-war · pre-war
Gathering discarded or dead material
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- shelterProtected place or structure
- enduranceSustained effort capacity
resourcefulness · adaptation · self-sufficiency · hunting · trapping · bartering · defense · stockpiling
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- propagandaBiased information for influence
- authoritarianFavoring absolute control
regime · tyranny · rationing · curfew · warlord · faction · territory · brutality
Making current again
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- resurgenceReturn after dormancy
- regrowthGrowing back again
- restorationReturning something to condition
revival · recovery · repopulation · rebuilding · reclamation · resettlement · hope · civilization
wasteland
Uninhabitable barren region
deserted · empty · ghostly · vacant · lifeless · inhospitable · ruins · silence · solitude · isolation
scavenger
Seeker of refuse
survivor · mutant · outcast · wanderer · tribesman · settler · prepper · survivalist · loner · marauder
devastation
Severe widespread destruction
- annihilationUtter, complete destruction
- obliterationTotal destruction or erasure
- decimationNear-total destruction
collapse · fallout · extinction · rubble · debris · crumbling · decay · disintegration · aftermath · cataclysm
aftermath
Results following an event
generation · collapse · fall · downfall · reckoning · age · post-war · pre-war
scavenging
Gathering discarded or dead material
- foragingSeeking wild food sources
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
- shelterProtected place or structure
endurance · resourcefulness · adaptation · self-sufficiency · hunting · trapping · bartering · defense · stockpiling · bunker
totalitarian
Dictatorial, all-controlling regime
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- propagandaBiased information for influence
authoritarian · regime · tyranny · rationing · curfew · warlord · faction · territory · brutality · scarcity
renewal
Making current again
- reconstructionRebuilding after destruction
- resurgenceReturn after dormancy
- regrowthGrowing back again
restoration · revival · recovery · repopulation · rebuilding · reclamation · resettlement · hope · civilization · community
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- speculative fictionsci-fi, science fiction, dystopia, fantasy, futurism
- Sci-Fi Settingsspace station, spaceship, starship, alien planet, moon base
- future worldsdystopia, utopia, megacity, Mars colony, cyberpunk
- sci-fiscience fiction, Star Wars, sci-fi, Blade Runner 2049, aliens
- Disaster Films2012, Armageddon, Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, The Towering Inferno
post-apocalypsegolden age
Period of peak prosperity
utopia · prosperity · modernity · civilization · abundance